


Fidelity

by Carriwitchets



Category: Persona 3
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:15:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25284505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carriwitchets/pseuds/Carriwitchets
Summary: A collection of glimpses into Aigis' growth as a person at Minato's side and the memories they made together.Daily, loosely interconnected chronological pieces for Aikoto/Minato/Aigis week 2020.
Relationships: Aigis/Arisato Minato, Aigis/Persona 3 Protagonist
Comments: 31
Kudos: 63
Collections: Makoto/Minato & Aigis Week





	1. First - Body Heat

Aigis stood outside of Minato’s door and stared at it with unblinking intensity.

Yukari, after all, had told her that she couldn’t be in Minato’s room all the time (that she shouldn’t be in Minato’s room at _all_ , but Yukari had mumbled that and Aigis had pretended as though her auditory sensors had malfunctioned) while he was ill and recovering, and so she was out here, staring at the door until she had deemed that enough time had passed to make it that she wasn’t in his room _all the time_.

It was more difficult to wait than she had thought it would be. While she could scan his body temperature (elevated), his breathing (a little ragged, but not worryingly so) and his heart rate (steady), she still found herself concerned. Her place was at his side, she knew that to be fact even if she wasn’t entirely sure why, and that meant that standing out here was contrary to her purpose.

She remained still, eyes fixed on the door.

The others had assured her that in time, Minato would recover. He had caught some sort of cold after the typhoon, and that was normal. Aigis knew this to be true herself; she could compare his symptoms with the knowledge she had in her databases and know for a fact that he was both recovering and not in danger. Still, strangely, even knowing that… she found herself concerned. It was illogical, though, and so she ignored it, assuming it to be some quirk of her own programming that she did not understand, much like her need to be by his side.

Seven minutes, thirty-two seconds and fifty-six milliseconds. That was enough time, she decided, to be able to consider herself not “in his room all the time”. So she reached out, opening the door, and gently pushed it open.

His room had not changed in the last nearly eight minutes. It was still near-empty, still dim with all of the lights off, which Aigis did not bother to turn on. Her sensors were more than enough for her to avoid any obstacles in the dark, and she moved to his side quietly and easily. Minato, too, hadn’t changed in that period of time; he was still asleep in bed, his brow slightly furrowed as he curled up under his blankets and shivered. Human bodies were incredibly illogical, Aigis thought. He shivered to keep warm, even though he was feverish and more than warm enough. Perhaps that was why humans required so much care when they were ill; their bodies could not do it for them. For Aigis, if anything were to be wrong with either her body or her programming, it would merely take someone fixing them, and she would be as good as new.

Standing by his bedside, Aigis stared down at her own hand in the dim light. She was truly so different from the others in so many ways. That was how she was made, for better or for worse, and she didn’t feel entirely equipped to prod more deeply at how that made her feel. Minato shifted in his bed, dragging in a shaky breath, and Aigis welcomed that distraction instead. She reached out quietly, mimicking a gesture she had seen Mitsuru do earlier, resting her hand lightly and carefully on his forehead.

Granted, it was unnecessary for her to do so. Mitsuru had been checking his temperature, and Aigis could do so easily with a simple scan of his vitals. Even so, though, she found that she wanted to try it for herself.

He was warm to the touch.

In truth, he was a little _too_ warm to the touch, most likely; it didn’t bother her, though, aside from how she felt the need to make a mental note of it. She let her hand linger, staring down at him with an almost puzzled expression on her face. He was warm to the touch, and while she herself could not be warm, not with her metallic body as it was, she found that… she liked it. There was something soothing about the warmth, and Aigis left her hand there for perhaps a few moments too long, because then the ill Persona user was stirring.

He squinted into the darkness, face still flushed and clearly still half-asleep and bleary. “Aigis…?”

“Yes, Minato-san,” she responded, straightening, though her hand remained where it was. “It is me.”

He huffed out a breath that she thought might have been a laugh, his eyes fluttering again. “Yukari’s...gonna be mad you’re in here again...”

Aigis wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so she chose not to. She still didn’t understand why Yukari was so fussed over the situation to begin with. Aigis wasn’t a girl, so she wasn’t breaking any of the rules of the dorm. She was merely herself, and her place was by Minato’s side, and that was that, one of the simple and immovable facts of life.

He was silent for long enough, his breathing evening out, that Aigis was rather certain he had dozed off again, but then Minato stirred, mumbling a sleepy, “Your hand… feels nice.”

Aigis blinked at that, startled despite herself. She knew that _his_ touch felt nice, but she wasn’t warm and soft like him. She couldn’t help the way she responded, even knowing he was only partially conscious. “Minato-san… I do not understand. My hands are not made to provide comforting touch.”

Perhaps he was delirious? If so, he might have been even worse off than she’d thought.

“Mm…” Minato just shook his head at that, eyes fluttering shut again. He managed to drag them open a moment later to respond, though. “It’s cool… it’s soothing right now.”

Aigis slowly looked down at her hand on his forehead again. It was true, wasn’t it? Her hand was cool right now, and that was exactly what Minato needed to be comfortable. Even if her touch would never be warm like his or the rest of SEES, she had her own way to be useful at his side.

“I see,” she mumbled, though her only response was a silent room, Minato having already slipped back into sleep properly. That didn’t bother her. She would stand watch over him, keep track of his vitals, and play another new role that only she could play, keeping his fever-flushed face comfortably cool while he slept off his illness.

Aigis didn’t realize she was smiling a small, tentative smile, and there was nobody else present in the room to tell her so--but the satisfied, comfortable feeling lingered as she stood by his side with her hand resting lightly on his forehead.


	2. Second - First Love

“And remember, Junpei,” Yukari said sternly, staring him down. “This is a girl’s _only_ sleepover, so you’d better stay on your floor!”

“Aw, c’mon,” Junpei whined in response, hands on his hips. “Why am I the only one you’re scolding? What about Akihiko-senpai? Or Minato?”

“We don’t have to worry about _them_ being pervs,” Yukari snapped back, arms crossed. A pause, and then she shifted her glare to said guys, both of whom were attempting to look small and unobtrusive. “Right?”

Minato and Akihiko nodded as firmly as they could, continuing to look as angelic as they possibly could, and Yukari’s gaze passed over them. “See?” she said, arching an eyebrow at Junpei. “You’re the only one we need to worry about, so don’t you dare, Junpei!”

Junpei held his hands up in reluctant surrender, and Yukari smiled contentedly, turning her attention to Fuuka and Mitsuru and Aigis. “Alright, let’s do this.”

Mitsuru looked bemused but ruefully resigned, while Fuuka was sheepish but gently enthusiastic. Aigis, however, remained still, tilting her head. “But I am--”

“Right, right,” Yukari cut her off quickly, shaking her head. “This is a girls plus Aigis sleepover, okay? Let’s go, you’re invited too!”

With that argument nipped in the bud, Aigis followed obediently, leaving the boys to watch them go in silence.

“Hey, uh,” Junpei finally said, breaking the silence. “What do you think they _do_ in girls only sleepovers?”

Akihiko just shrugged, and Minato yawned, tucking his hands in his pockets as he turned to head back to his own room, tossing a casual, “Who cares?” over his shoulder. And that, for the boys, was that.

* * *

“Takeba,” Mitsuru began, vaguely uncomfortably, “Are you sure of this? You did not need to invite me just to be fair.”

Yukari frowned, looking like she wanted to say something, before she just shook her head sharply. “This is a bonding chance, right? We don’t have school tomorrow, so there’s nothing wrong with taking a night for movies or something.”

Silence fell between them after that, before Yukari determinedly turned away. “Fuuka! Did you bring the snacks?”

“Um, yes!” the other young woman said, snagging the bags of chips she’d grabbed for the occasion. She opened one up, turning and offering it to Aigis, who just stared at her blankly. Realizing Aigis couldn’t eat the chips either way, Fuuka blushed, turning to the other side to offer them to Yukari instead with a stammered, “H-here…!”

Yukari, surveying this mess, sighed with a hand pressed to her forehead. They were… hardly a good group of normal girl friends, were they…? Still, she had decided that they were going to use tonight to try to bond, and everyone had agreed, which meant she couldn’t fold just because things were already a bit of a mess. She was Yukari Takeba, and that meant she didn’t quit just because the going got tough.

… And boy did it get tough.

Painting each other’s nails was vetoed by Mitsuru as she cited the possibility of spilling the polish on the floor and how that would be destruction of dorm property. Fuuka had shown a surprising inclination towards sci-fi movies, but after the first uncomfortable storyline about an AI having gone rogue, they glanced at Aigis guiltily and shut off the movie. Snacks could be shared, but Mitsuru had uncertain interest in the chips Fuuka had brought, and Aigis naturally could not eat them at all. To say the atmosphere was awkward was to put it mildly.

Yukari, in desperation, turned to one sleepover cliche she thought she never would stoop to. “Hey--do any of you have any crushes?” she asked, slapping on a smile that she hoped was convincing. This was always the question she’d hated the most when she was invited to other sleepovers--it felt both nosy and invasive. But… they weren’t getting anywhere here, and she wanted to be friends with the other SEES ladies so _badly_ , if they could make it work. She wasn’t sure it was even truly possible, but… they had to try, right?

Fuuka flustered a little, but Mitsuru, though she sighed, seemed to at least understand what Yukari was going for. “I suppose that is traditional, from what I understand of little get-togethers like these,” she said with long-suffering acceptance. “Though I am afraid I do not have anything exciting to report.”

“What is a ‘crush’?” Aigis asked, tilting her head.

“Oh, right,” Yukari said thoughtfully. “I guess some stuff like that isn’t programmed in, huh…? They probably thought you’d never need it.”

She shrugged a little, and continued, “A crush is someone you really, really like--someone you’d like to be with, you know?”

“Oh.” Aigis nodded in simple understanding, and said just as simply, “In that case, it is Minato-san.”

All three of her companions froze, before Fuuka covered a smile behind her hand and Mitsuru sighed, though she also looked vaguely amused. Yukari frowned. “No, Aigis, that’s not what I meant. A crush is more like…”

She looked to the other two for assistance, but Fuuka was now giggling, and Mitsuru carefully and studiously avoided her eyes. She huffed. “It’s more like--you know, it’s more serious than that!”

Aigis just looked puzzled. “I do not understand. I am very serious. I wish to remain by his side. He is my ‘crush’.”

Yukari looked as if she was torn between arguing further or just accepting the inevitability of that fate… and ultimately, it was hearing Fuuka’s giggles that sealed the decision for her. She sighed, shoulders slumping but with a vague smile of her own on her face, even as she pressed a hand to her forehead. “Okay, okay… Minato’s your crush. You win, Aigis.”

“I was not aware I was competing for something,” Aigis said, clearly bemused, but when Yukari looked around, Fuuka was still giggling and Mitsuru was smiling as she reached out to steady their navigator, and the atmosphere of the room had vastly improved. There was just something about Aigis’ unflinching certainty, even if Yukari was still not really sure she _understood_ the situation… something about it was refreshing.

Maybe they were the lucky ones, to have Aigis here to help mend bridges and bring them together, even if just a little.

 _Still_ , Yukari thought to herself with an arched eyebrow, _A certain_ Leader _had some explaining to do tomorrow._


	3. Third - Reunion/Trauma Recovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Major spoilers for up to 11/4ish in P3!

The dorm was quiet after Ikutsuki’s betrayal.

Mitsuru was gone, handling her family matters as best she could, with Akihiko often out to try to support her. The others, while present in the dorm, may as well have been ghosts; they moved from room to room as if in a daze, voices hushed when they had to break the silence, heads bowed and eyes on the floor.

They had been betrayed, after all. Aigis did not have a good baseline for betrayal and the emotions it evoked, but now, she felt as though she had an understanding that was all-too-strong. SEES had been betrayed by Ikutsuki, who had been there for them from the very beginning, but...they had also been betrayed by _her_ , by her inability to stop from fighting her own friends, all due to her programming, her metallic skin, and the gears and pistons holding her together. She had been unable to fight the programming that was part of her being, no matter how much she felt she had grown. No matter how much the others had told her how human she was becoming… she was still a machine, in the end.

She had betrayed her companions.

Aigis was not certain what to do. She could pull data on practically anything, but in situations of emotion, she never knew what to search _for_. What sort of keywords were ideal to find how to heal her friends, all of whom had been dealt a vicious blow?

She felt like she was caught in an infinite loop of some sort as she stared at her bedroom door, uncertain if she should stay or leave. Of course, her programming was much too sophisticated for such a thing to happen, but… it wasn’t too sophisticated to allow her to not attack her friends, was it?

 _Guilt_ was a new feeling, a bitter and heavy feeling that weighed down her limbs and heart in equal measure, a feeling that kept her rooted in place as she stared unblinkingly at her closed door. She could remain here all night, she was certain, and nobody would know any better. There were, of course, the security feeds, but Aigis had checked the logs, and aside from some early fiddling with it by Minato, nobody had checked those in months. If she chose to stand here, uncertain and unhappy, then rightfully, no one would--

There was a knock on the door.

Aigis finally blinked.

“Aigis… are you in your room?” It was Minato’s voice, as soft as ever, though Aigis could tell, attuned as she was to his slightly varying tones, that he sounded tired. The guilt only weighed down her limbs further at that realization.

She opened her mouth automatically, but for the first time in response to him, she hesitated. There was silence, Aigis torn between responding out of duty and wanting to remain unseen, and Minato patiently waiting for a response. Then, after the pause had drawn out long enough, there was a soft sigh from the other side of the door, and the rustling of clothing. It took Aigis a moment to place the moments, but an additional scan revealed the situation; Minato was sitting on the other side of the door, back pressed up against it.

“You’re there, right?” he asked softly, head thunking gently against the door. “The light’s on. If you are, you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to, but… let me know somehow?”

Aigis hesitated a moment longer. She wanted to see him and she wanted to speak with him, but somehow that guilt made her tongue heavy. How could he want to see her after she’d nearly killed him and all of his friends? Ultimately, she decided on a compromise; she’d always learned best from the others, and so she followed his example, slowly sitting against the door with her arms loosely wrapped around her legs, resting her head back to gently hit the door with an equally gentle thud that she knew he could hear.

He breathed out a soft breath, and in it she thought she could hear relief. If she could just sit here silently and try to get her thoughts in order, perhaps… that would be enough.

“Thank goodness,” he said. “It’s a relief that you’re still here.”

His first words threw her intentions of silence immediately out the window; at that, she couldn’t help but ask, “‘A relief’? It is? I fail to see how that could be a relief.”

Minato was quiet for another moment, his side of the door silent aside from more rustling of fabric as he shifted a little. “It’s a relief because it is a relief. If you weren’t in the dorm, I’d be worried. If we didn’t know where you were, it’d be… well, pretty scary.”

Aigis shook her head, even though he couldn’t see it. “Minato-san… I betrayed all of you. I did not think you would want to see someone who…” Her breath hitched--an unusual error--but she carried on nonetheless. “...hurt all of you. I was the one who--”

“Ikutsuki was the one who hurt us,” Minato cut in firmly, and it was so unusual for him to interrupt that Aigis fell silent, head lifting and her eyes widening. “And you, Aigis… you were the one who saved us. Don’t forget that, because that’s how we all see it.”

At the last minute, when it mattered the most… Aigis stared down at her hands. Her hands could have killed the people most precious to her, but instead…

“Just think about it, okay…?” Minato continued, voice soft again. “Take your time. But… none of us blame you for anything. And I’ll be here to remind you of that no matter how often you need to hear it.”

There was a lot she could have tried to say in response--but at the moment, trying to verbalize her grief, her guilt, and her hardships seemed impossible when they were all so very new to her. But Minato had told her to take her time, and if he said that it was fine to do so, then she believed him. And perhaps, because he was the one to say she wasn’t to blame… she could work on trying to believe that, too.

So her response was quiet. “Thank you, Minato-san.”

He didn’t move and neither did she, and for a long while, they simply sat, backs pressed to opposite sides of the same door, and soaked up the comfort there was in that alone.


	4. Fourth - Promises

“Heyyy, Ai-chan!” Junpei was as enthusiastic as ever as he slung an arm around her shoulders.

“Junpei-san,” Aigis responded simply, unmoving and peacefully allowing him to do so. She was used to Junpei at his most Junpei, and she had been privy to enough of SEES’ quiet discussions about Junpei and Chidori to mean that he meant nothing by the closeness. She did not understand love for herself, but Minato and Yukari were quite sure that was what Junpei felt for the other girl, and Aigis trusted in their judgement. Love was like this, Aigis understood now--an emotion that made someone giddy and mopey and enthusiastic depending on the day and how Chidori had spoken to him last hospital visit.

“What is it?” she asked and he grinned in response.

“Come with us to karaoke! C’mooon, you still haven’t heard this guy sing, right?” He jerked a thumb at Minato, who blinked slowly and then offered Aigis a small smile and shrug, as if to say _Junpei will be Junpei_.

This behavior, too, was within expected parameters. As of late, all of SEES had been trying in their own way to drag Aigis out of her room and out into the world properly. She knew fully well it was their attempt to keep her from dwelling on what had happened with Ikutsuki. They were trying to comfort her, and Aigis found that she _did_ feel better in their company, with the reassurance that they had long since forgiven her for her unwanted betrayal.

“I would like to come,” Aigis said in response, head tilting. “However, I do not know how to sing.”

“Whaaaaat?” Junpei asked, rearing back in exaggerated surprise, but Minato cut in quietly, “We can teach you how. If you’d like to come, then come with us.”

Aigis had already wanted to come at Junpei’s invitation, but Minato’s soft request just sealed the deal for her; she nodded without hesitation. “Then I will come with you, Minato-san.”

Junpei pouted behind her at those words, a reaction she did not understand in the least, but Minato was smiling and that was all that mattered as he nodded and led the way out.

* * *

Karaoke was… interesting. Aigis had to admit that there were parts of it she enjoyed (Minato’s singing, the enthusiasm in the room, the way that Yukari seemed to let down her guard and laugh) and parts of it she wasn’t so sure about ( _Junpei’s_ singing, the way that it was difficult to speak with the others in the loud room). Nonetheless, she had a good time, and seeing the way that Minato lit up while they were there made the entire trip worth it to her as it was.

It was a feeling she simply accepted, without examining it too deeply.

But all good times had to come to an end, including karaoke; their paid time for the room ran out, and so together they left, Yukari and Junpei bickering loudly about the last song chosen in the room as they headed out. Minato waited for Aigis, and the two left the room together a few steps behind their companions. Aigis was content to revel in that alone; she was where she was supposed to be, Minato seemed happy, and that made everything _correct_ for at least this one evening as far as she was concerned. 

But eventually, Minato broke the silence. “Did you have a good time, Aigis?”

Aigis gave that a moment’s thought before she nodded firmly. “I did. Thank you for bringing me, Minato-san. I had never experienced such an activity.”

Minato smiled a little at that, expression small but plainly satisfied. Still, he wasn’t finished. “You said before we went that you couldn’t sing, but I thought you did a pretty good job when it was your turn.”

Aigis frowned a little at that, more in contemplation than anything. She understood the basic technicalities of how to sing, but when she compared her singing to Minato’s, or even Junpei’s... “Did it not feel… like something was missing?”

He blinked, a little taken-aback by her frank assessment… before he also sank into a contemplative pause. Aigis was patient; Minato was always quiet when he was considering a topic with care, choosing his words carefully before he responded. The silence just meant he was considering her question with due seriousness.

“I suppose… if I had to put it into words, it felt a little bit like you weren’t exactly feeling the songs here,” Minato said, tapping his own chest above his heart. “You sang them great, but they felt a little bit like you were just singing the words on screen.”

Was that what it was? Was that why her singing had felt so different from the others? When he put it into words, it made perfect sense, and she just sighed a little, head dipping. “I see… I do not understand human emotion enough to sing properly, not like you do, Minato-san.”

“That’s not it,” Minato said with a shake of his head. “At least… it won’t be that way forever, like you’ve made it sound. I’m sure that next time, you’ll sound even better.”

“But I am not human,” she protested.

Minato shrugged. “I don’t think that matters, not with singing or anything else. You understand more and more emotions every day, you know? I promise you’ll be singing better than anyone in time.”

Something about his wording struck her as strange, and even as Aigis struggled to comprehend what he was saying, she latched onto that oddity as one bite-sized piece she could parse. “You… ‘promise’?”

Minato nodded, but then a hint of a smile broke through the solemnity of the moment and his expression. “Have you ever made a pinky swear, Aigis?”

She looked at him blankly, before she shook her head. Minato offered her his extended pinky. “Here, I’ll explain. You don’t have to look it up--I’ll show you how. First, we link pinky fingers like this.”

Carefully, Aigis reached out, hooking his pinky finger with her own, her confusion unabating.

“Then,” Minato continued, “we shake on it, and say the right words to affirm our promise. So…”

He cleared his throat, and in his typical dry deadpan tone, said, “Finger cut-off, ten thousand fist-punchings, whoever lies has to swallow thousand needles.”

Aigis blinked. “That is rather…”

Minato just waved his extra hand. “I’m not actually sure where it comes from, but, well… don’t think about it too hard. What matters is now we’ve promised and sworn on it, so it’ll definitely come true. You’re going to understand more emotions than you think, because Aigis… you’re more human than you think, too.”

She hesitated, though his words touched her and she couldn’t help but smile, even as she slowly responded, “Was our promise not about my singing capabilities?”

“Oh, yeah, that too,” Minato said, rubbing the back of his neck, and Aigis dipped her head, looking at their still-linked pinky fingers. Maybe there was some actual magic in it, or maybe it was simply that it was Minato, but somehow, she believed all of it to be true.


	5. Fifth - The Small Things

The weather had taken a turn for the cold, which left all of the students of Gekkoukan bundled up to keep warm--sans Aigis. She was perfectly comfortable as she was, something she told Yukari multiple times as the girl attempted to offer her up a cozy coat, unable to understand their concern when she clearly could not feel the cold at all. Eventually, Minato, hiding a smile behind the scarf wound around his neck, just waved off the attempts with a quiet, “Aigis will tell us if she needs a coat, right?”

She nodded firmly, and Yukari just sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead. “Everyone is going to worry at school and think she’s going to get a cold…”

“Maybe that’s Ai-chan’s plan,” Junpei said with a grin, waggling his eyebrows in a way that Aigis classified from her databases as ‘inappropriate’. “It’d be a pretty good way to get up close and personal with that special someone if they think you’re cold, y’know?”

Yukari rolled her eyes at that, sighing. “Not everyone thinks like you do, _Stupei_. Anyway, it’s fine, whatever. We’ll leave the coat behind, but we’d better get going or we’re going to be late for school.”

Aigis watched as they tugged on their coats and scarves, bundling up to brace themselves against the sudden cold front that had settled in Port Island. The cold truly didn’t bother her in the least; her body, if anything, functioned better without the threat of overheating. But humans were more fragile, and the cold seemed to bother them far more than most things, judging by how careful they were to prepare for it, and how they all shivered the moment they stepped out the door. Still, they persevered, chatting and joking as they made their way to the train station, Aigis following along quietly and contentedly. She did get a number of concerned looks along the way from other students and the occasional businessman and woman who walked by for her lack of anything warmer than her school blazer and skirt, but she simply offered them a smile and a slightly mechanical wave. It was something Junpei had told her was ‘absolutely foolproof’ and ‘with how angelic you look, Ai-chan, nobody will think twice about whatever weird thing you were doing!’

The outcome, it seemed, was something in between; the wave didn’t quite seem to set the strangers at ease by any means, but they smiled back uncertainly and let her be, which was perfectly acceptable. So the trip to Gekkoukan was mostly nondescript, despite Yukari’s concerns, and they were soon at the school gate. The bell rang, and Yukari and Junpei exchanged grimaces and began to trot towards the school properly; _nobody_ wanted to be the last one in their seat when Ms. Toriumi was in a Mood.

Minato huffed out a faint breath and moved to follow suit, reaching out to Aigis for her hand to encourage her along. She smiled a little to herself on automatic; the sensation of having someone reach out to her was still new, and while all of SEES would do so warmly, there was something about Minato’s consistent devotion to it that warmed her from the inside out in a way that she could not name and had no data on. Either way, on automatic she reached for his hand in return… only to tug her hand away at the last minute quite suddenly, holding it close to her chest with wide eyes.

“Aigis…?” Minato asked, head tilted but tone as patient as ever.

“I apologize, Minato-san,” Aigis said, which wasn’t really an answer at all. “We will be late for class if we do not hurry.”

“That’s okay,” Minato responded without taking another step towards the school. “If we’re late, we’re late.”

It was said almost carelessly, except that Aigis was well-aware that their leader was careful to not miss any school and that he was reasonably devoted to making it to class on time and without disruptions. Aside from sleeping in class occasionally, he was often a model student, something Junpei often sighed about and the others seemed to admire. So the fact that he wasn’t moving now, and instead watching her so carefully meant…

“What’s wrong, Aigis?”

… It meant that he was concerned about her, even after such a small aborted motion. Quite suddenly, she felt a little bad; the last thing she’d wanted to do was cause him extra concern. It was just like him, though, she couldn’t help but think. Though he was quiet, he was always so watchful, especially when it came to SEES. It seemed that even Aigis herself was still included in that number, despite being a robot. Despite what she had done with Ikutsuki.

She shook her head quickly, though her throat felt a little tight--something very illogical, since it had no reason to. “It is nothing serious. I apologize for concerning you.”

Slowly, she tugged her hand from her chest, looking down at it. “It is only that… my hand is made of metal. It is a thermal conductor. To you, it will be unbearably cold… so you should not touch it in weather like this.”

Minato blinked, clearly not having expected that answer, and Aigis waited patiently as he processed it, the two of them standing quietly alone by the school gates, with only his breath fogging in the air.

“I see…” Minato said finally, expression thoughtful. Then, quite suddenly, he dug into his school bag, rummaging around until he could pull out a pair of gloves. He pulled those one deliberately, and then he reached for Aigis’ hand again, snagging the cool metal of her fingers in his gloved hand.

“There. Now I won’t be cold, even when I’m holding your hand.”

Aigis stared at their intertwined hands, and then lifted her head to blink at him. Beneath his scarf, there was a rare smile.

“Minato-san, something like this is…”

“It’s just a little thing,” Minato said simply, tugging her along gently to encourage her to walk towards the school properly. “I’ll always be willing to do something as easy as this if it makes things easier on you, Aigis. Okay?”

In response, all Aigis could do was nod, but she was smiling as she did so--and the smile remained even throughout the scolding Ms. Toriumi gave them for their tardiness.


	6. Sixth - Music

If there was one thing Aigis knew for certain about their leader, it was that he loved music.

Of course, she had observed many more things since her realization that he was the one she was supposed to protect. She had observed that he was kind to his friends, but quiet and often underspoken. She had observed that he liked animals of all sorts, taking Koromaru on walks and often feeding the stray cats around Iwatodai. She had observed that he was a bit of a glutton and loved eating, often found with snacks around the city as he went about his daily tasks.

But even so, one of the first and most persistent observations had been that he was always, _always_ wearing his headphones, and that he seemed to love listening to music. She’d seen it in the dorm when he was working on classwork in the lobby, his homework spread out in front of him and his headphones on, head bobbing as he listened to something or other. She’d seen it in how he would often sneak in a song or two on the train to school and back, as if those moments were precious opportunities to listen to his MP3 player for a bit longer. And she’d noticed it even during the Dark Hour, when he would make aborted movements towards his MP3 player and headphones when he was nervous or stressed or tired, before he’d let his hand drop. After all, he was the leader in those moments, and even if his technology did work during the Dark Hour, he wouldn’t have time to listen.

It took some time to sink in despite Aigis’ many observations, but slowly it did. Music was one of the most important things to him, wasn’t it…? It made Aigis want to understand as well. So, as per her usual norm, she had gone straight to the source.

(“My music?” Minato had asked, head tilted.

“Yes,” she said, her expression unflinching. “I wish to understand why you enjoy it so much.”

Minato had huffed a faint laugh at that, rubbing the back of his neck quietly. “That’s… not really that easy to explain, I think, but… I guess it’s just something that’s always been there for me, you know?”

She did not, and it showed on her face.

He paused to gather his thoughts. “No matter what, even when I didn’t have anyone to rely on, I had music. Does that make sense?”

Aigis mused on it for a moment. “I do not think so. I apologize, Minato-san.”

“Well, that’s fine,” he said, amusedly. “Maybe eventually you will. In the meantime… I guess it’s easiest just to say that I just really like it a lot, and that’s how it is.”)

Aigis had given it plenty of thought since that day, but she still wasn’t entirely sure she understood his love for music--though she was starting to understand his reason for finding it comforting. After all, she too now had something--or, rather, _someone_ \--who she could count on to always be there, even when she was at her loneliest.

Still, that didn’t help her understand his love for music. It was Fuuka she spoke to, when Fuuka was performing her standard maintenance. After she had explained her quandary, Fuuka pondered it in her soft, quiet way, before she said simply, “Why don’t you give it a try for yourself?”

Aigis blinked.

“Why don’t you go to the music store in the strip mall and try finding some music you like,” Fuuka continued, explaining patiently. “It might help you understand better than someone trying to explain it.”

So Aigis did, wandering along the strip mall by herself, still in her school uniform. It was unusual for her to go somewhere without one of the others along, but for this, it felt necessary. She wouldn’t have been able to explain why, so she was grateful the other members of SEES trusted her enough to allow her to do this on her own at this point. She strolled down the street, making her way to the music store. She’d never been in there, but she knew where it was; Minato’s eyes were always drawn to it, even when they were just walking by. Aigis stood before the door for a moment, before she finally opened it and stepped in.

The store, for someone who knew practically nothing about music, was overwhelming. But it was small, and Aigis took it in small, manageable chunks so that she could build a proper analysis of the store and the situation she’d found herself in. The music was sorted by genre, though none of them meant much of anything to her; she could register what a genre was supposed to be by how it was described in her databases, but that meant little to someone who had never heard it before.

At random, she picked one of the first ones she stumbled across, lifting the headphones attached to the sample song, and resting them over her auditory processing inputs. Then, she listened. To say it was a revelation would be far too dramatic; at first, Aigis listened and felt nothing, though she desperately wanted to. She wanted to understand this facet of Minato more than anything, feeling as though it would allow her to understand him even better than she already did--

But it was just music.

She sighed, shoulders slumping, as she lifted the headphones and placed them back on the stand. Idly, she drifted to the next one, in another genre, lifting the headphones for a lack of anything else to do. Perhaps she was doomed to never really understand, no matter how hard she tried. Perhaps this was simply something one had to be human for.

She put the headphones on, pressed play, and listened again. This song...was gentler, but she still didn’t feel any sort of immediate impact. Still… the lyrics were nice, now that she listened to them. Something about them reminded her of Minato, and that made her smile. The melody alongside the lyrics… perhaps it wasn’t anything incredibly, but it still made her smile.

A few moments later, she lifted a hand to her lips, blinking in surprise at the realization that she _was_ smiling. Perhaps… this was the beginning of an answer? She still didn’t entirely understand, but listening to this song, Aigis felt as though she wouldn’t mind researching a little more to come closer to some sort of answer.

(And when she returned to the dorms with the CD and showed it to Minato, the brilliant smile he showed her was another strong reason to keep trying.)


	7. Final - Devotion/Intimacy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We did it, friends, we made it to the end! This was a super fun project, and I really appreciate everyone that came along with me on this ride.
> 
> I wanted to wrap things up with a different sort of intimacy than the norm--I hope it properly came across. Regardless, I hope everyone enjoyed this little story!

The dorm stood silent but resolute as the days of January began to come to a close. SEES was quiet, solemn but at peace, and while it had taken Aigis longer to find her own peace with the decision they had all made… as time went on, she, too, found her inner peace. She would stand with this family that she loved, and that, at least, was a decision she could be proud of. Aigis had wanted them to live in peace and happiness for the remainder of their short days, but it became clear to her very quickly--they _were_ living in their own form of happiness, even knowing what loomed ahead.

They were united in their decision and Aigis was united with them, and it was with that resolution that all of SEES faced the remainder of January, a scant few days before they would fight for their lives, and the lives of everyone else who deserved to live. Still, there was one person that Aigis knew was bearing more than his fair share of the burden, and that was what drew her to stand before his door, staring at the flat panes.

It brought her back to another time, many months before, when she had unlocked this door and walked right in when Minato was sick, simply because he was ill and she wanted to be by his side. Something had changed between then and now, though Aigis struggled to place it. All she knew was that she could not just barge into his room now, and so she lifted her hand and knocked.

“Come in,” Minato’s voice, soft as it was, still was plenty audible to her through the door, and quietly, Aigis opened the door and stepped inside, gently closing it behind her. She paused there, inspecting their leader quietly.

Minato sat at his desk, and while he looked a little tired, with dark circles under his eyes… he also looked just as resolute as the rest of SEES, with the same determination in his gaze. Still, Aigis couldn’t imagine what he would be working on right now; she moved closer out of simple curiosity, blinking when she found that the books and pages spread out on his desk were schoolwork.

He read her gaze, and shrugged a little, admitting, “Mitsuru-senpai and Akihiko-senpai inspired me with how they tackled their entrance exams even with all of this going on. I figured… I needed to keep working hard too. For the future, you know?”

Something about that made her chest ache, and Aigis wasn’t sure why that was the case either. All of her companions were looking to the future even though what they were facing was so incredibly bleak; even despite Nyx, they could still see a bright future beyond that, and Minato was no exception. When they were all so determined, Aigis, too, could see that bright future, and was ready to fight for it for as long as her mechanical body still functioned.

But Minato set his schoolwork aside, standing up and tucking his hands into his pockets casually as he tilted his head at her.

“Anyway, what’s up, Aigis? Did you need something?”

“Oh, no,” Aigis said earnestly, shaking her head. “It is the opposite. I wanted to see if you require anything.”

Minato blinked, bemused. “Me…?”

“Yes.” Aigis was both unsurprised and undaunted by his confusion. She had observed Minato the most, even if she hadn’t been by his side the longest. She was quite confident in her assessment of the situation. “You have taken on many responsibilities and burdens recently without rest, Minato-san. I am concerned you will… feel the burn.”

Minato closed his eyes for a moment, lips twitching as if he was fighting back a smile. “Junpei?”

Aigis nodded solemnly. “Junpei-san informed me that it is very useful slang.”

“That’s… one way to look at it,” Minato responded with a vague shake of his head. “I think what you’re looking for is ‘burned out’, though. And… well, I think I’m hanging in there okay.”

Aigis contemplated that for a moment. “You do not need anything?”

The sinking in her chest, she thought, was most likely disappointment. She was disappointed she couldn’t do more for him, after all he had done for her. Every single day, she was getting better at pinpointing those emotions and just what they felt like, noting them quietly to herself so she would never forget the feeling.

“Well…” Minato hesitated, as if he could see the disappointment on his face, and was now warring between not showing that weariness for her sake, or allowing her to see it, also for her sake. Eventually, he just shrugged a little to himself, tossing away his overthinking. “It’d be nice if you stayed.”

“Of course,” Aigis responded, and Minato blinked, a little flummoxed, before he murmured under his breath something that sounded an awful lot like, “That was fast…”

Still, he was quick to continue at a more audible volume, “I’m really… really glad. Thank you, Aigis. It always makes me feel more comfortable when you’re here with me.”

“There is nothing to thank me for,” Aigis responded, her hands clasped before her contentedly. “There is nothing more important to me than to remain by your side.”

Minato hummed softly under his breath, a contemplative noise more than anything, before he finally asked quietly, “Why is that?”

He’d never bothered to ask, rather accepting that it was an odd quirk of hers, Aigis knew--all of SEES had, some more readily than others. Back then, she hadn’t been able to explain why it was that way, just that she knew it was, so it was for the better nobody had pressed too hard. But now, he knew better than anyone what had happened. What she had done, and why she needed to stay by his side.

(But Ryoji was gone now, and still Aigis needed to stay there, and the truth of the matter was, maybe Minato did have good reason to ask in that gentle and patient way of his.)

She took in a slow breath, and continued just as slowly, as if testing each word as she said it, “I… feel as though that is what I want to do.”

It wasn’t as earth-shattering a revelation as some of the others had been as she’d grown. This one, as she said it, felt _right_ to her. She didn’t need to examine it more closely, because she knew it was the truth. She stayed by his side simply because she wanted to be there.

Minato smiled at that answer, expression both sincere and a little bashful. “That’s… honestly what I wanted to hear, to be honest. I think that means… I can do this.”

He moved slowly, as if to allow her the space to protest if she wanted to, but this was Minato, and she trusted him more than life itself when it came down to it, so she remained in place as he stepped forward, leaned in… and gently pressed their foreheads together, his eyes sliding shut as he breathed out a soft breath. The position was new to her, softly and gently intimate in a way that left her breathless (a ridiculous notion, since she did not technically need to breathe), but there was something soothing about it too. They were close, so, so close, and Minato was right by her side, just as it should have been. Aigis thought that she might have a name for this feeling now after so long, and it was one she kept close and warm, and was one she was very eager to learn more about.

“Is this okay…?” he asked quietly, and Aigis smiled, her own eyes slipping shut.

“Of course,” she said quietly, startled by the softness of her own tone. Had she always been able to produce such tones…? “Of course, Minato-san.”

Wasn’t this where she had always wanted to be?

So they remained there, eyes shut and foreheads touching gently, taking a moment together to soak up a warm sort of peace that they could only find in each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, here's my go at Aikoto Week 2020! The goal is a 7 day sprint of interconnected pieces about 1k words long for each prompt, so we'll...see how that goes. Thank you for reading!


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